Just like you, I thought all of the drama between Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson was over when the couple was granted a quickie divorce on July 31. They had a 70-second hearing during which neither party made a financial claim against the other. Of course, Charles probably still has an axe to grind given his complaint that he was divorcing Nigella because she didn’t defend him from public outrage. He called his abuse a “playful tiff” as if choking her was the most normal thing in the world.

That now-famous incident took place in early June on the patio of Nigella and Charles’ favorite restaurant, Scott’s (in the Mayfair district of London), so one would think that neither party would be willing to revisit the scene of the crime ever again. Yet here is crazy-ass Saatchi dining alone at his favorite table (yes, that one) at Scott’s just last month — as if he’s trying to keep the memory alive. Now the Mail reports that he’s continuing to harass Nigella by phone and text message while even threatening to commit suicide if she does not call off the divorce and return to him. Seriously:

Charles Saatchi threatened to commit suicide in a bid to win back Nigella Lawson after the first stages of their divorce, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

In a series of text messages and phone calls, the multi-millionaire art collector warned he would take his own life and begged his wife to contact him. The ‘harassing’ messages show the depths of despair – some friends say madness – into which Mr Saatchi has sunk.

The Mail on Sunday can also reveal that he has accused Nigella of potentially criminal behaviour and allowed his young daughter to make statements alleging illegality by her stepmother. Nigella has not seen her estranged husband since photographs of him grasping her by the throat were published in a Sunday newspaper eight weeks ago. She has also refused to answer any of the messages he has been leaving on a daily basis.

However, the television presenter finally relented after Mr Saatchi, 70, said he would kill himself. Such was his despair, his 18-year-old daughter Phoebe also texted her former stepmother to say she was worried about her father’s state of mind.

Friends revealed details of his desperate behaviour after being “appalled” that he allowed his daughter to attack Nigella by claiming her stepmother had abandoned her. The couple spoke twice on the phone in the days after their decree nisi was granted on July 31. It is understood that the threats of suicide were made in at least one “ranting” phone call.

According to a friend of the television presenter, she felt she was left with little choice but to contact him. The friend said: “Charles has been texting and phoning Nigella endlessly. One minute he’s pleading, the next bullying. Her silence has been driving him crazy. When she didn’t reply, he used Phoebe to get Nigella to talk to him, to tell her she was worried about his state of mind.

“He’s not above using Phoebe as a bargaining chip. In the end, after the threats, Nigella called him. The first conversation was quite sweet. It was a case of, ‘please come back.’ Nigella was sympathetic. She was going out somewhere and said I hope you don’t [do anything silly]. The second conversation was more difficult but she held firm.”

Last night a friend of Mr Saatchi confirmed that he had contemplated suicide in recent weeks as he struggled to come to terms with losing his wife and his reputation. It is said that one of the hardest things for him has been Nigella’s refusal to defend him against allegations of being a wife-beater – allegations Mr Saatchi insists they both know aren’t true.

The friend said: “Yes, he agrees he felt low and suicidal but he couldn’t leave Phoebe. He has been very up and down. He was just wanting some form of contact. He is feeling very betrayed by Nigella’s lack of support and the fact she hasn’t stood by him or stood up for him in public. How difficult would it have been to issue a statement? Charles was brought to the brink of suicidal feelings and they did have a couple of conversations but Charles says they didn’t come to any understanding.”

The suicide threats come amid deepening concerns for the former advertising tycoon who has been acting increasingly strangely of late. Yesterday he allowed his teenage daughter to issue a statement to a newspaper denouncing Nigella. Phoebe, his daughter by his second wife Kay Hartenstein, accused her stepmother of abandoning her and said: “She has behaved in a very cold-hearted way.”

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Phoebe had also been prepared, last month, to accuse her stepmother of behaviour that was potentially illegal. With the full knowledge of her father, she gave a statement to this newspaper containing a number of criminal allegations that could not be substantiated. The claims highlighted the depths of bitterness now engulfing the family.

The Mail on Sunday took the decision not to report the claims. Friends of Nigella’s are furious that Mr Saatchi should allow his daughter to enter the public fray.

This is such a load of crap on Saatchi’s behalf. Look, I’m not trying to discount suicidal intentions at all, but doesn’t it seem like Saatchi is merely trying to blackmail Nigella into taking him back? Like, “If you don’t agree to drop the divorce, I’ll off myself, and it will be all your fault.” That’s a d-ck move. Nigella seems to have surrounded herself with a great support network who have helped her through the divorce process, and she just needs to stay strong and not give end up back at square one with Saatchi’s hands around her throat.

Here’s Saatchi once again outside Scott’s restaurant after all the shiz with Nigella went down. He’s so friggin creepy.

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This is typical abuser behaviour. It always has to be all about them. They gravitate towards self-pity like a crack addict. He won’t kill himself, it’s all just a move to get attention and pity. Drop kick the a**hole narcissist.

VERY typical abuser behavior. Wondered about the quicky divorce – thought to myself “no abuser lets his victim go that quickly without a fight”. Threatening suicide when nothing else works is pretty typical. I used to work at a domestic violence shelter.

It’s a pretty effective form of abuse delivered cuttingly in an English accent! Lol! However, moreover I agree with LAK in that I hate people who threaten suicide too. I have seen something similar firsthand and it makes me furious! Selfish and dramatic behaviour.

This man comes out from an Abuser Textbook!
My sister abuser exhusband used to do things like this: endless phonecalls to sis, or to ME (when she wasn’t answering his phonecalls), to explain how he couldn’t live without her, how his life was meaningless, and how he was going to kill himself etc.etc…

Seriously. When I was in an abusive relationship any “misstep” on my part ended up with him threatening suicide or half heartedly attempting (read: taking 10 lexapro even though it just makes you throw up). Hopefully she’s not getting caught in the cycle – early on in that relationship I was so stressed and worried he would actually do it. Then I realised it was him being a controlling, manipulative jerk.

I have a strange feeling that after all the bad publicity goes away, some time in the future they’ll get back together.The breakup was so abrupt there might be this feeling of unfinished business. I hope I’m wrong.

I too have often wondered if the press “forced” her to break-up with him or if she was like “Thank you, Jesus, I can leave this fool without impunity,” as she frantically ran through the house, chatting “Take what you can carry. Take what you can carry.”

Pretty sure that’s one of the classic moves an abuser would make in their bag of tricks to keep a person with them. “I can’t live without you, if you leave, I’ll kill myself!”

The next time he threatens it (because you don’t want to ignore it) she should call the police and tell them about it and they’ll go to his house because suicide hotlines will just tell you to call 911 (or your country’s equivalent) anyway.

Yeah, my ex-boyfriend’s abusive son used to pull the suicide threat out a lot; even after he choked my boyfriend & knocked him down a couple of different times, boyfriend still wouldn’t call the police or 911 over the suicide threats/assault. Nor would he kick the a**hole out of his house. Hence the “ex.” People have to stand up to those who abuse/manipulate/threaten.

How childish to threaten suicide to try and win someone back. Glad she’s sticking to her guns. An ex-boyfriend threatened suicide after we broke up and it’s a horrible position to put someone in but it did help me realise I’d made the right decision in the first place.

This is exactly what these abusers do; they leave you to hurt you and make you feel rejected and worthless. Then they come prancing back in expecting you to be grateful and to grovel, if you dont they jump to abusive tactics to manipulate your feelings. It’s all about their power over the victim.

I don’t think people should discount how annoyed Saatchi must be over his loss of “face” after this mess. Nearly everyone sided with Nigella (only people in his employ defended him, and apparently he was able to manipulate his daughter into doing so too) and called him out on his classic abuser moves.

I’m sure that rankles. Getting her back would help him “repair” his tattered image. Hope to God Lawson doesn’t fall for the manipulations.

He’s not sad he lost his wife- he’s mad she had the guts to leave, and that the public turned even more against him after his disaster of a statement.
The stuff about him expecting her to defend him is insane. What a manipulator, and I feel badly for his daughter.

Ughhh, what a horrible excuse for a human being. I feel sorry for his daughter as well. Poor thing is being dragged through this mess. I wonder what he threatened her with to get her to say those things.

You know, I get the feeling that this may have been a blessing in disguise.

The pictures being so public meant really that Nigella had no choice but to leave and maybe in the past she felt she couldn’t (if his current behaviour is anything to go by, he may have guilted Nigella into staying – and also used his daughter).

Now she can break away and not turn back, something that she may have tried to do but didn’t succeed with or something she has been planning to do but didn’t know how.

Thankfully she is now out of the relationship and hopefully there is no turning back.

Exactly. I’d think she needs to get someone to watch the kids as well.

Classic abusers like this once they start making these kinds of threats, will soon lash out at the kids/spouse. It’s what they are used to and what they expect will work to ‘get that person back in line’

More reasons to stay away from him!
What a pathetic loser. Even if he does feel suicidal (and having experienced a similar relationship in the past, I don’t believe that for a bit), he brought it all on himself and should seek therapy instead of blaming her. How dares he?! hope she doesn’t fall for this. And to brainwash his daughter into thinking it was all Nigella’s fault and then using her to get back at Nigella is just discussing. She has made the right decision leaving him and should stay away as far as she can!

I feel so terribly bad for her. She must be in agony right now dealing with this lunatic. I do hope for her sake as well as her children that she gets protection. This man is up to no good. I would hate for this issue to go any further!

Classic abuser/control freak behavior, I really hope she doesn’t fall for it. When I was very young I dated a guy who I realized after not very long was a control freak/weirdo. He got too serious way too quickly and just too posessive all around. Sometimes you just get a bad feeling, and even though he was hot and we had great chemistry, I broke it off. When I broke up with him he threatened suicide, bombarding me with phone calls, turning up at my house. When I ignored this behavior he moved on to stalking and threatening to kill me. I called the police(NYPD,natch) and that put an end to it. I am so thankful I had friends around to support me and that I was strong enough to not be intimidated into giving him what he wanted, attention. I think the Nigella/Saatchi situation is a strong message/example that this kind of thing can happen to anyone. He is a powerful man who probably always gets what he wants, his behaviour here is so telling of his true nature, I hope she doesn’t fall for any of it because the fact she was with him for so long does scare me as this clearly isn’t a one time thing.

Ugh, way to prove the allegations are untrue, Charles – because nothing says “I’m not abusive” like constant harassment by phone, and blackmailing your ex with suicide. Like that’s not a form of abuse too?

I’m not in the least bit surprised he’d stoop to this, though. If he regards choking (or even pretending to choke) his sobbing wife as “playful” then how would he recognise that the rest of his behaviour is abusive? The methods vary but the message is always the same: do as I say, or else.

The suicide threats are more than a d— move, it’s part of the cycle of abuse. It is manipulative and abusive to threaten one’s life to get the affections of the other person. I know. It’s been 15 years and a lifetime ago but I dealt with a boyfriend like saatchi. What a worthless human being (I use that term loosely for both my ex and saatchi).

The daughter may be courting his approval (Nigella may not be the only one he’s abused) and/or is in fear of losing her fortune. Douchebags like Saatchi think nothing of threatening family members with all sorts of emotional blackmail.

poor Nigella, the stress and the harassments she endures must have taken a toll. She looks so haggard and dreary, I notice she lost so much hair (top pic) it must be soo awful to have a scumb*g of an ex stalking you like this!

They haven’t got any kids together. Nigella has two with her late first husband, while he has a daughter with his previous wife.

By the way, as far as I know, Phoebe’s mother got at least joint custody, so her whole ‘Nigella’s been like a mother to me’ may well come as a surprise to her actual mother.

Nigella’s children would have far more grounds for saying Saatchi had been like a father to them since their own father is deceased, but since he apparently never liked them and insisted they be kept to other parts of the homes he shared with Nigella, it doesn’t surprise me that they aren’t saying anything of the sort.

I think Saatchi is one of those men who think that if they aren’t actually closed fist punching a woman or kicking her in the ribs, they aren’t abusive. Grabbing and pushing and emotional abuse don’t count in their minds. Of course, the rest of the world don’t see things the same way, but it explains why Saatchi is so indignant that Nigella hasn’t defended him. In his mind, he isn’t abusive and she should therefore say so. In her mind and in the minds of her supporters, he definitely is abusive.

My ex pulled that crap on me. I saved the text message and got a restraining order. It’s a power move, it’s the ‘go to’ for abusers. Sympathy and then bullying, then threats to reveal ‘secrets’ and then back to sympathy. Sick cycle.

If he’s constantly calling, threatening, etc. she needs to file for a restraining order / injunction of protection. Y’all are right, he’s a classic abuser with loads of $$, & what he’s doing is certainly stalking.

Their lawyers stopped them – she’d have sued and one person’s unsupported word is unlikely to be accepted by the courts. It’s why UK kiss and tell girls generally need telephone messages or lure the man in question to a public meeting so the newspaper can take pictures.

My ex husband to a t. Finally after nine grueling months of the suicide crap, I told him do it. If your sons aren’t worth living for, then they are better off without you. He has not spoken to any of us in six years.

Wow. What an ugly mug this guy has. What a mean scowl. I cant imagine what the poor thing had to think of to get underneath this ugly toad. Shes too beautiful for him. I have no clue what she saw in him. Hes a toad inside and out!

I just want to hug all the people who commented in support of this woman. I don’t even know her but I have followed this story and I feel for her. We stand with you. You remind everyone that has ever escaped the hands of a mad man of their own strength.

Okay, don’t hate me. I think you are all being completely ruthless here. Do not forget that Nigella would not be as famous as she is without Charles magic touch. He introduced the lick the spoon, and silly mishaps in the kitchen and help build her career. Yes, he screwed up and I’m sure the whole ordeal was upsetting for such a classy lady. He’s a jerk not a monster. Have any of you ever been in pain due to a break-up, well it freaking hurts, feelings all over the place and in 70 seconds it’s over. On top of that the whole world is watching…we all say things under stress and I’m sure it’s hell for both of these people but back off leave the guy alone.